1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to containers for holding items. In particular, this invention pertains to containers that may be used for securely containing recyclable items of various shapes, volumes and types.
2. Description of the Related Art
As resources become more scarce and concern for environmental pollution increases, communities are beginning to adopt waste recycling programs The processes involved in recycling the differing types of wastes, such as bottles of various types of glass, metal cans, and newspapers, require that these different types of waste be sorted by type before reprocessing.
Because people are more likely to utilize waste recycling facilities if the wastes are picked up from their homes and if they do not have to sort the waste, the waste recycling companies in larger cities are beginning to provide waste collection services to residents and to sort the recycled materials after collection. Companies have developed plastic containers for people to use for their recyclable items but it is difficult to provide a single container that conveniently holds both newspapers and mixed recyclable containers of various types, and that is small enough for convenient use in the home while providing an adequate capacity for increased collection efficiency. It is also important that the containers used for recycling items are acceptable in appearance for use in and around homes.
Further, it is difficult to anticipate accurately how much volume a customer will require for that customer's recyclable items, and to provide for the obvious differences in output volume that each customer may experience from collection period to collection period.
Another problem faced by waste recyclers is finding a means of handling stacks of newspapers without tying the newspapers together or putting them in additional containers, such as bags, to avoid losing portions of them in windy weather even if the container is not full.
Another problem in waste recycling is providing means of containment that secure the recyclable items, but allow easy addition of other recyclable items as well as stacking of nested empty containers for efficient shipping and storage.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a container that may be used for waste recycling of newspapers as well as glass, metal or other items of varied shapes, sizes, and quantities.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a container that may be used to contain and hold securely varying amounts of recyclable items and to which additional contents may easily be added, thereby reducing the number of containers that the person who is recycling items needs to handle and increasing the efficiency of the waste recycling process.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a container with a top having a releasable means that may be either used to hold contents in the container or may be held securely away from the opening of the container, so that the container may be filled, emptied, or stacked with other containers.
Another object of the invention is to provide a container that securely contains recyclable items and that may be stored in multiple lots without taking up substantial amounts of space.
Another object of the invention is to provide a container that is visually pleasing without excessive amounts of cords or other pieces to be handled by the recycler
Another object of the invention is to provide a container that may be used to hold newspapers or other items without strapping or tying the items together.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and amended claims.